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SNARK WEEK

Mall customers stroll through the Boulevard Mall on Monday, Dec. 2, 2013. The shopping center that opened in March 1968, was recently purchased by local buyers, Sansone Companies/Boulevard Ventures, LLC. (David Becker/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

By ARNOLD KNIGHTLY

CITY LIFE

INVESTING IN THE OBSOLETE

Some people enjoy collecting items from America’s past, and the Sanson Cos. seems to be that type of company. The local real estate firm announced Monday the $54.5 million acquisition of the 45-year-old Boulevard Mall on Maryland Parkway. With 43 percent of Black Friday purchases happening online, and kids who used to go to the mall now at home with their various electronic devices, and Amazon floating the idea of using delivery drones, investing in any brick-and-mortar retail seems akin to buying a steam locomotive company in 1946.

ELEPHANT STAMPEDE

The Nevada GOP is pushing hard to land the 2016 Republican Commission in Las Vegas, with Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki leading the charge. The three sites proposed for the event are the Thomas & Mack (parking and traffic nightmare), MGM Resorts International/AEG arena (not even broken ground yet) and the Las Vegas Convention Center (which really is probably the only real choice). Another reason not to go the MGM route is partnering with one gaming company could hinder the ability raise the $55 million to $70 million needed aided by casino moguls and GOP benefactors Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn, who might not be too excited to see MGM reap the majority of the financial benefit.

HERE COMES THE JUDGE

We don’t want the reader to think we are ignoring the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline’s juicy hearings this week involving a possible romantic relationship between suspended Family Court Judge Steven Jones and the then-prosecutor now-fired Lisa Willardson. We just want to wait to comment after the hearings conclude. According to Willardson, the judge is “freaking hot.” Hot enough to lose your career?

NOW, YOU CAN GET HEALTH CARE

Officials from the Obama administration said this week that the HealthCare.gov site is fixed and ready for heavy action. According to the Washington Post, “Government and outside technical employees have worked around the clock for weeks” to complete hardware upgrades and software fixes for the troubled website. Maybe the around-the-clock approach should have happened prior to launch.

HINDSIGHT AND ALL THAT

In our sports-themed snark of the week, it can’t be helped but to wonder if former UNLV basketball player Anthony Bennett would not have been better off staying in school another year. That is hard to say about someone who was the top-pick overall in the NBA draft. He got paid, his family is taken care of, even if his butt gets more time on the bench than his feet get on the floor. The way UNLV is playing right now, they could use his 16 points per game. And he could use the time to actually play.

SHINE A LIGHT

Mayor Carolyn Goodman expressed dissatisfaction with the new LED streetlights, saying they don’t provide as much visibility as the old ones. The city spent $21 million to replace the more than 40,000 streetlights in Las Vegas less than two years ago. Goodman claimed she nearly hit someone in a crosswalk lit by the new lights. The lights were pitched as saving the city $2 million annually by cutting energy costs. Now the city can spend more money to improve crosswalk safety made more dangerous by poor lighting.

I WON’T HAVE WHAT THEY’RE HAVING

Like many visitors, a youth football team and their families from Santa Monica, Calif., won’t soon forget their Vegas trip. Unfortunately, it will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Eighteen people, including 13 children between 7 and 9, where transported from the Rio hotel-casino Friday after experiencing flu-like symptoms. That included nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The illness was soon affecting between 80 and 100, some staying at other hotels. CBS Los Angeles speculated that “the players got sick from pesticides sprayed on the fields,” officials now believe a norovirus is responsible. The groups where in town to compete in the National Youth Football Championships. Welcome to Vegas, kids.

DRONES, WE’LL TAKE YOUR DRONES

While other states are looking to restrict drone use in their skies, the Silver State is actively seeking to become a national test site for a drone program. The state Board of Examiners is considering approval of $1.46 million from a legislative contingency fund to oversee the start-up of the drone program here. A few sites in Nevada are among the 25 finalists for six national sites under consideration. The Legislature already set aside $4 million to assist in drone test site development efforts. Maybe this will put us in line to be the first to have our Christmas packages from Amazon delivered to our house through the sky same-day. Do you wan’t 2-day Fed Ex, 5-day business mail, or same-day drone shipping?